Meditating Upon the Verses (21-22) of Surah al-Baqarah

3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM
|
Readers: 466 |

The translation of the verses:

Allah (Exalted He) says: "O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become pious # [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. [Surah al-Baqarah, 2: 21- 22].

Explanatory statements on the two verses:

Ibn Jareer Attabary- may Allah have mercy on him- said: "It has been reported that Ibn Abbas used to say: '(worship your Lord) means, believe in the oneness of your Lord'. And what Ibn Abbas intended here by giving the meaning of (worship your Lord) as believe in His oneness is: assign your obedience and worship specifically to your Lord and nothing else among His creatures" [1].

Commenting on the verses Sheikh Abdur- Rahman ibn Nasir As-sa'di- may Allah have mercy on him- said: "This is a general order to every human beings collectively for a comprehensive worship by obeying Allah's commands, refraining from His prohibitions, accepting His revelations to be true. Hence, He ordered them to execute what He created them for, as it is manifested in the verse: (And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship me) [Surah adh-Dhariyat, 51: 56]".

As-sa'di proceeded by saying: "He (Allah) then provided them with the evidences while He is the only One deserved to be worshipped. He is your Lord who bestowed His favors upon you. He created you from nothing as He created those who were before you. He gave you blessings both unseen and apparent. He made the earth as bed for you to stay on comfortably while you benefit from it by making buildings, farming and cultivating. And moving on it from one place to another, and lot of other benefits. He made the sky a ceiling for your houses, and put in it all your essential needs, like sun, moon and the stars" [2].

Additionally, Imam Ibn Katheer - may Allah have mercy on him- also said in his commentary: "These verses signify the believe in oneness of Allah the Almighty, by assigning to Him alone all sorts of worship and not associating any partner with Him. Many interpreters of the glorious Qur'an like ar-Razi and others have chosen these verses as proofs for the existence of the Creator- Exalted He. Indeed, whoever contemplate all these existing beings both in the heaven and on the earth, and the notable differences in their structures, their colors, their natures, their benefits, and the perfect work of placing each suitably in the best position to serve its purpose, whoever contemplate these will eventually realize the magnificent power of their Creator, His wisdom, His knowledge, His perfection, and His great authority" [3].

Logical Evidences that Support the Subject Matter of these Verses:

A bedouin was asked to prove the existence of the Lord and he answered: "Glory be to Allah!! The dung signifies the camel, the footprint signifies the walk, the sky is having stars, on the land are paths, waves could be seen in the seas. All these things, are they not indicating the existence of the Most Kind, the Well-Acquainted?" [4].

Imam Malik- may Allah have mercy on him- was also asked to present proofs on the true existence of Allah. So, he responded by pointing to the difference in the languages of the creatures, the difference in the sounds and the tones [5].

It has been reported that Abu Hanifa- may Allah have mercy on him- was asked by some atheists to proof for them the existence of the Creator. He said in response to their request: "Leave me alone! I'm thinking about an issue I was being informed of. I have been told that there was a stabilized ship on the sea, filled with different type of goods and commodities, and nobody was guiding or sailing it. Yet, the ship was able to move itself, beating the huge waves in the sea, heading for anywhere it likes without being sailed by anyone. The atheists said: "This is unreasonable! A sane person is not expected to give such utterances". Therefore, Imam Abu Hanifa said: "What is wrong with you people! The heavenly creatures and the worldly creatures, in addition to what they contained which were all perfectly and excellently created, nothing created them?". The atheists were bewildered, returned to the truth and accepted Islam [6].

One Arab poet said: "It is a surprise, how can Allah be disobeyed! Rather, how can one deny Him!! While in everything there is a sign which denotes that He is One [7].

Benefits from the verses [8]

Some of the outstanding teachings which could be derived from the two verses are:

1- The devotion to worships. This has been pointed to in two ways, firstly: the call followed by the command (O mankind! Worship your Lord). Secondly: generalization of the call to be directed to all mankind, which indicate that worshipping is the most important of all their tasks.

2- The confession of believe in oneness of the Lord as the Creator, Giver and Provider calls for the confession that He is the only One worthy of worship.

3- Among the ways of the glorious Qur'an in establishing its phenomena is that in most cases when it gives the ruling it gives reason[s] to support it. The ruling here is (Worship your Lord), while the reason is because He is the Lord, Who created us and created those who existed before us. Therefore, He is the only one worthy of worship.

4- Piety or righteousness is a high position that cannot be easily attained by everyone except the one who worship Allah with pure sincerity, and that is why He says: (That you may become pious).